I don’t know why — it’s one of those irrational things — but there you have it. So please, let’s make sure we all just refer to this as a maternity picture. Or a pregnancy picture. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

(There are many more, but we haven’t decided yet which ones we want to buy, so this will have to do for now.)

Hopefully the next pictures I post will be of the baby himself, because I’m getting pretty impatient. (And don’t even ask how well Andy’s dealing with the wait. Hint: much worse than I am, and his approach for dealing with it involves asking me about every three seconds if I feel anything that might be labor.) Admittedly I still have a week left before my due date. And yes, I know that most first babies come late. But I was — like everyone, I’m sure — hoping to be the exception.

The good news is that I’m feeling pretty decent. Although I had a rougher-than-average first trimester, the pregnancy gods are making it up to me with an easier-than-average third trimester. I can see my feet. I can even run to catch buses. Most importantly, I can walk around long enough to spend beautiful spring days outside — which is what I did all day yesterday and what I plan to do all day today too…